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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25637929">From a Safe Distance</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinguji/pseuds/shinguji'>shinguji</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Kaito is an astrology nerd pass it on, Kiyo means the world to me, Mentions of past abuse, More like self-comfort, Multi, Not really hurt/comfort either, Slight angst? But not really it’s mostly happy, This wasn’t supposed to have Shinsai it just happened, birthday fic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:55:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,898</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25637929</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinguji/pseuds/shinguji</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kiyo liked blending into the background, observing from a safe distance. He was naturally outgoing, really—he could ramble to strangers and contemplate the world’s mysteries with them for hours. But he was terrified of messing things up, of being hurt. Trusting was terrifying.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Momota Kaito/Shinguji Korekiyo, Saihara Shuichi/Shinguji Korekiyo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>74</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>From a Safe Distance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I’ll spare you all the long ramble about Kiyo. I just wanted to write a birthday fic for him because he means a lot, but it got a little self-projection-y. Please read the tags just to be safe and enjoy! :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Korekiyo often sat on his balcony for lunch.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The balcony of his dormitory overlooked the courtyard of Hope’s Peak, where some of his classmates spent their lunch period (although most of them ate in the dining hall). It was the closest he could get to observing his classmates without having to sit among them, getting the occasional weird glance or slight scoot-away when he sat beside someone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had memorized the patterns of the students who ate outside, for the most part—Kokichi and Gonta often took turns dragging each other around to gawk at butterflies and pull pranks on people, Leon and Ibuki always sat on opposite sides of the lawn and tried to out-guitar each other, most of the girls from Kiyo’s class got together for a picnic on Saturdays… he had notes on all of it, and he watched it every day with undying curiosity.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Although he no longer felt the need to alienate himself from others, it was still nice to observe their freedom from a distance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sometimes, leaning over the banister, he even took his mask off and imagined himself with that kind of freedom.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Although today happened to be his birthday—it fell in summer, but Hope’s Peak’s classes continued year-round, thankfully—it was no different than the usual lunch. Kiyo stood with his elbows propped up on the white banister, scrawling messy notes in dead languages and illegible script and scribbling hardly recognizable drawings of his classmates. Occasionally he unzipped his mask to take a bite of a sandwich, but it wasn’t anything special. He didn’t usually eat much anyway.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ibuki had brought out not only an amp, but a microphone as well for the day, so her musical stylings had driven most of the usual people away. Angie and Mahiru seemed to be simultaneously painting and photographing one another, quite obviously trying to just grin and bear it, but apart from them, the courtyard was unusually still—not nearly quiet, but still.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But even over the sound of Ibuki’s deep voice and heavy guitar, Kiyo could hardly help but flinch when he heard a knock at his door. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Coming,” he said to no one, considering the visitor clearly couldn’t hear him over the noise and through the soundproof walls but trying to mask any worry in his voice anyway. He carefully shut his notebook tight, stepped back inside, and opened his closet to put the notebook away alongside the many plastic boxes of notebooks filled with observations and sketches. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kiyo paused in front of his door and let out a breath before the usual self-inspection: his hair was straight and neatly tucked under his uniform hat—uniforms weren’t mandatory during the summer, but surely Sister would want him to keep it on; surely he wanted to thank her for all the hard work she put into it even while she was ill—the bandages on his hands were wrapped and tucked in perfectly without even a sliver of skin showing, and his mask was zipped tightly and pulled up highly enough to hide anything unseemly. Perfect.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The door swung open. “Hey, man!” Kaito said, just a little too loud for Kiyo’s already aching ears. Something Kiyo found interesting about Kaito—there were a lot of things, actually, as there were with many of his classmates—was his utter social ineptitude. Despite being very outgoing, he always had this air of unawareness around him. He always spoke too loudly. “You okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah—yes,” Kiyo said, quickly straightening his shoulders and his face. “I apologize. Ibuki’s instrumentals tend to leave the ears a bit, ah, tender, do they not?” he joked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a shame it was so frowned upon to take notes while speaking to someone. The fact that Kaito had actually seemed to notice Kiyo flinch and ask if he was alright rather than telling him to man up was rather peculiar—in fact, it didn’t align with his notes at all. He hoped his memory didn’t fail him when Kaito left and he was able to start writing again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kaito raised an eyebrow, as if he didn’t understand why this was an issue. “Uhh, yeah, I guess,” he said slowly. He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment and shifted his balance to his other leg. It was a common reaction Kiyo got from people—Kaito </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> looked like he didn’t want to be there. “Anyway, uhh, I just wanted to drop by and wish you a happy birthday! I dunno if anyone else did, so I… yeah.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kiyo’s lips parted slightly under his mask. “Oh. Thank you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course!” Kaito said, grinning for a much too long moment before he finally seemed to register Kiyo’s blank stare. “Wait, is it not your birthday?” he asked, his eyes widening. “It’s—no, it’s gotta be, right? Shit, dude, I’m—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, it… it is. July 31st. Thank you,” Kiyo repeated softly, clearing his throat. “Why did—ah, how do you know my birthday?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kaito sighed in relief before giving him a lackluster thumbs-up. “I asked everyone’s birthdays when I met you guys at the beginning of the year! I’m basically the birthday expert,” he bragged, putting his free hand on his hip. “You’re a Leo! I think it suits you alright.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know my own zodiac sign, Kaito,” Kiyo scoffed, although his voice was still a bit shaky with surprise. “Are you… certain no one told you that today was my birthday?” He found it hard to believe that someone could willingly remember his birthday. Perhaps it was just because it was at the very end of the month…? It wasn’t particularly difficult to remember, he supposed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kiyo then realized something. He had, both memorized and on record in his notes, the birthdates of his classmates as well as the upperclassmen. “Say, Kaito, what is Shuichi’s birthdate and sign?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“September 7th,” Kaito stated matter-of-factly. “Virgo. Suits him pretty well too, I think. It’s really cool how zodiacs usually work like that. I don’t know a lot of astrology, but it’s pretty neat. Maybe I—sorry. Rambling,” he said, chewing on the corner of his lip again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kiyo frowned a bit at that—he loved any chance he got to discuss such things, especially with someone clearly both passionate and knowledgeable about it, but he supposed it was for the best that they not get sidetracked. “What about Maki? Kaede?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maki’s February 2nd, so an Aquarius. Also, that’s Groundhog Day! I remember that being a thing in the US. Last time I went, it was around that time. I really don’t get why it’s a thing, but whatever,” he said, shrugging. “Kaede is March 26th. We’re both Aries… uhh, Arieses? I dunno.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wonderful,” Kiyo said, a genuine smile forming beneath his mask. It truly was wonderful to see such a passion for a talent as well as love for friends. “However, do you know who at Hope’s Peak had the most recent birthday? Perhaps the next after mine? When is Himiko’s birthday? Mikan’s? Byakuya’s? Hifumi’s? Rantaro’s?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kaito frowned—a very slight, shortly-lived frown, but still noticeable. “Ryoma was the most recent, right? And, uhh, Chihiro from the junior class is next? Himiko is January 24th, uhh, Mikan’s October 2nd, Byakuya’s May 5th, Hifumi is December 31st, and Rantaro’s November 17th! Woo!” Kaito shouted, feigning pride.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kiyo was… conflicted by this. Only two of Kaito’s responses were even remotely correct, and they both knew it—Kaito was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>a convincing liar, regardless of whether Kiyo knew the truth or not. Hifumi and Byakuya’s birthdates were similar to Kiyo’s in that they were both somewhat memorable numbers, but Rantaro was just as close a friend to Kaito as Shuichi, Maki, and Kaede were. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So, then… why had Kaito remembered Kiyo’s birthday above the others?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In all honesty, probably because of the easy date to remember, or simply by chance. Kiyo recognized more than anyone that no person is perfect or follows an exact code. Such is the nature of humanity.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But still, a naive part of him couldn’t help but hope that Kaito, who barely knew him, who likely hated him, even, could see him as a priority. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The thought was scary—Kiyo liked blending into the background, observing from a safe distance. He was naturally outgoing, really—he could ramble to strangers and contemplate the world’s mysteries with them for hours. But he was terrified of messing things up, of being hurt. Trusting was terrifying.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maybe Kaito wasn’t wrong about his sign being accurate.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wasn’t certain if it was because it was Kaito, or because it was anyone but his sister, but a stupid, stupid part of him wanted to trust, to believe that maybe Kaito really did care enough to remember. He wasn’t quite ready to trust, but he certainly wanted to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Even after he said goodbye to Kaito and returned to class, the thought was incessant for the rest of the day: the idea of being desirable as a friend or maybe even a crush, not an object. As egotistical as it was, Kiyo loved the thought of being chased after. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And he knew it was bad. He knew he should focus on himself. A slowly shrinking part of him still told him to focus on Sister. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t realistic, sure. Not anytime soon, at least. But it was nice to lazily daydream about having friends during his history classes, where he was usually so focused.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was liberating, like the feeling of facing the wind with his mask off and watching his classmates laugh in the courtyard.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That feeling, though accidental, was the best birthday present he’d received in years. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kiyo?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kiyo snapped out of his thoughts with a jump when Shuichi tapped him on the shoulder at the end of his final class of the day. “Ah—my apologies,” he said quickly, frowning beneath his mask.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay,” Shuichi said, smiling at Kiyo nervously from desk across from his. “Uhm, happy birthday! I couldn’t actually get you anything, but—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s quite alright. I didn’t expect you to,” Kiyo interrupted in what was hopefully a reassuring voice, although he rarely came off the way he intended to. “In fact, I hadn’t expected you to know it was my birthday, either. I would be in complete disbelief if not for Kaito wishing me a happy birthday earlier today.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shuichi’s eyes widened. “Is that why he—I’m sorry! I’m… admittedly not the best with birthdays, so I’m glad he knew or I would’ve totally forgotten. I hope you at least got something. I mean, I can try to bring you a gift tomorrow or—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kiyo shook his head, a bit lightheaded. Shuichi wanted to get him a gift? Sure, he was probably just the type to get presents for everyone, but… it still felt wonderful to even be recognized, much less given such amazing gifts. “I received more than usual this year, actually. Thank you. I will have to get something for you and Kaito.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Huh?” Shuichi asked. “N-No, it’s your birthday! You don’t need to get us something for that!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kiyo sighed, reluctantly agreed, and sat to talk with Shuichi for another few minutes. Not an observation, not an interview… just a conversation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And despite his promises, the moment Kiyo was back in his dormitory, he spent hours daydreaming and thinking up thank-you gifts for the both of them.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading! As with all the birthday fics I write, I didn’t have much time and I sort of just rambled, but I hope it was alright. Feel free to leave feedback! &lt;3 Also, I promise I will be writing more! I’ve been a bit overwhelmed and unmotivated lately, but I’m getting back into the swing of things! Expect a lot of rarepair stuff (although that’s pretty par for the course with me).</p></blockquote></div></div>
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